Sleepless In Storybrooke
by HollyStone73
Summary: Begins where Heroes & Villains (Season 4, Episode 12) left off...Hoping for a bit of normalcy the heroes attempt to take advantage of the quiet while Emma fights an enemy that only strikes when she is at her most vulnerable. Will she have the strength to defeat a foe that no one ever sees or will the ones she loves most be forced to watch her lose her will to fight? {Captain Swan}
1. Chapter 1

**_Author's Note: This is my first attempt at a OUAT story. Like so many others I did not feel that I could wait until March to see what happens so I figured that I would pass the time by writing my own little story. I hope you enjoy!_**

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><p>The glow of his heart was all that Emma could see as she burst through the door. The fear she felt only intensified as she realized what Gold's intentions were. She immediately tried to conjure up a spell to stop him, but was not fast enough. She was suspended in time, unable to move and would be forced to watch as Rumple crushed Killian's heart.<p>

Suddenly, Belle was there, dagger in hand, giving her husband the commands that would save them all. Emma stood in staring at the place they both disappeared from in complete disbelief.

"What the hell just happened?!" Emma asked in alarm.

"Poor Belle," Mary Margaret said sadly. "We should go after her."

Emma shook her head as she watched Killian rise carefully holding his heart in front of him. Their eyes met and she was flooded with a million conflicting emotions that nearly knocked the breath out of her. She nearly tripped up the steps to get up to him and gripped tightly onto his out stretched arms as he caught her.

As she buried her head into his neck he whispered into her ear, "I am sorry, love. I am so so sorry."

"No. Stop," Emma hissed back. "It doesn't matter."

"Please," he insisted back, "I have to say this. I needed to try to be a better man for you, but I failed. I only-"

Emma pulled back and put her fingers over his lips. "Shh. It doesn't matter."

"Guys," Mary Margaret hesitantly interrupted, "We really need to find Belle and make sure she's ok."

Emma pulled herself from Killian's embrace and glanced down at her mother. Steeling herself against the tide of emotions threatening to overwhelm her she nodded solemnly.

"You're right," Emma said. "I just have to find Regina to figure out how to get that," pointing at the heart in Killian's hands, "back where it's supposed to be."

"Of course," Mary Margaret said as the determined look on her face softened. "You know what," she said after a short pause, "why don't you just go take care of that and I'll go see to Belle. I don't think she needs all of us intruding on her grief right now anyway."

The gratitude that Emma felt must have been written all over her face as she saw her mother flash her a knowing smile and a reassuring nod before motioning for them to join her back onto the elevator that they had just ridden up. As they descended Emma grabbed Mary Margaret's hand and held on tight. In that grip she tried to convey all of her gratitude, her fears and her love. She was sure that she must have been hurting Mary Margaret with the tightness of her hold but she could do nothing to loosen it. Thankfully she did not complain and only broke the hold when the doors reopened on the ground floor allowing them to go their separate ways.

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><p>Despite the simplicity of the instructions that Emma had been given by Regina about how to put Killian's heart back into his chest, she had been terrified that she would somehow mess it all up. So when the task had been done and Emma had made her way out to the bar at Granny's where Regina sat forlornly drinking her coffee, she knew that she was in desperate need for something to calm her nerves.<p>

Killian had retired to his room early perhaps sensing that Emma needed some time to clear her mind and process the events of the day. His reassurance to her that he was a survivor had said to her that he had a pretty good idea of what had been spinning through her head since she had found him with Rumple. However, there had been no way of him knowing just how far off the mark he truly was. Emma didn't want to think and process everything that had happened. She wanted to forget. Lucky for her, she was not the only one.

Regina and Emma sat at the counter at Granny's for several hours drinking and talking about everything, but what had actually led them to drink. They were even able to share a laugh or two and while neither of them felt the slightest better when they parted they could probably have agreed that they were, for the time being, comfortably numb.

It wasn't until Emma had stumbled out onto the sidewalk into the quiet of the night that she felt the weight of her worries pressing down upon her again. Thanks to the overindulgence of alcohol she had consumed, she was far less able to rationalize and maintain composure. The tears that she so desperately tried to hold back fell freely down her cheeks until she was sobbing quite uncontrollably. She backed up against her car and slid down the door until she was sitting on the cold ground.

The heart wrenching sounds of her sobbing drifted up to the window that Killian always left cracked open. Without a moments hesitation he made his way down to where she had half sat/half laid upon the ground lost in her own despair. His newly restored heart emitted such a pain from seeing her in such a state that he, for just a moment, wished it were missing from his chest once again.

"Emma, love," he whispered softly. "What is wrong?"

Emma lifted her head to look at him and simply shook her head as if words were too difficult for her to master at that point. With a small sigh Killian gathered her in his arms and held her tight as she was taken by a fresh round of tears. The smell of the spirits gave him a significant clue about the reasoning for her current state of distress.

They sat for several moments like this until he heard Emma mumbling into his shoulder. Gently, Killian positioned himself so he could look into her face.

"I quit," Emma mumbled.

Killian nodded. "Okay. Quit what?"

With a sob she cried, "I quit everything. I don't wanna be the savior," she slurred. "I can't do it anymore."

"Shhh, love," he whispered as he stroked her hair. "Let's not worry about that now."

Pushing away from him, she scrambled out of his embrace and clumsily brought herself to her feet. She began digging in the pocket of her jeans and pulled out her phone.

"No. I'm gonna do this now," she said as she punched buttons.

With a sigh he asked, "What are you doing?"

"I told you," she said in exasperation. "I'm quitting. If I can get him to answer the damn phone."

"Whom are you trying to call," he asked slowly.

"Prince Friggin' Charming. Him & my mother can just find themselves a new savior," she slurred angrily.

Standing up, Killian made his way to her side and gently pulled the phone from her grasp. "Let me, lass. I'm not sure you'd say it right in your current inebriated condition."

He let the phone ring several more times until a sleepy sounding David finally answered, "Emma? Is everything ok?"

"It's me, mate," Killian said. "Your daughter needs you."

"Hook? What's wrong? Is Emma ok?" David responded in alarm.

With a chuckle he said, "She's fine. She is, however, in need of transport home as she is in no fit state to make it there on her own."

"What?! What do you mean?," David said in exacerbation.

"She sloshed, mate. I can not get her home and I will not soil her reputation by having her sleep it off in my quarters," he explained with a sigh. "Especially if she wouldn't even remember it in the morning," he added with a smirk. He did love to push his royal buttons.

There was a slight pause before he replied, "I'll be right there."

Killian escorted Emma back onto Granny's patio and handed her the phone. Sitting down next to her at one of the tables Killian noticed that the tears had stopped. Unwilling to provoke a new onslaught of the waterworks he simply held her hand in his quietly until he heard the now familiar sound of David's truck pulling up.

"Emma?" David asked as he approached the seated couple. "You ready to go?"

Ignoring her father's question Emma turned to Killian, "Did you tell him? Was he mad?"

With a sad smile Killian responded, "No, love. I think that would be a conversation best had when you have sobered up a bit and had a chance to think about everything."

"Tell me what?!" David demanded angrily.

"That I quit! I don't wanna be the savior anymore!" she declared as she stood up too quickly causing Killian to catch her before she tumbled to the ground.

The look on David's face changed from anger to sadness as he began to understand his daughter's distress. He shot a look at Killian who could only shrug his shoulders and look guilty.

"I think maybe Hook is right," David said as he came to her side, "Maybe we should talk about this later."

"No! I'm done! I can't continue being responsible for saving this town if it means not being there for the people that I love when they need me. It's not fair! Is this just going to continue until I am completely alone again? I don't wanna be alone anymore," she finished as she dissolved into tears once more.

Taking charge of the situation, Killian once again took Emma in his arms, whispering words of comfort as he carried her to David's truck trying his best to contain the flutter of happiness that sprung into his chest when Emma inadvertently admitted to loving him. He had barely gotten her situated in the passenger seat when she fell into that heavy drunken slumber that all too often follows a night of serious drinking.

"I'm guessing that all of this was brought on as a result of your recent dealings with Rumplestiltskin?" David asked accusingly.

Killian took a deep breath before responding carefully, "The mistakes I've made in regards to the crocodile may have been the spark that lit the flame, but perhaps the weight of the responsibilities thrust upon her since her birth provided the fuel." Killian paused as he let his words sink in. "I know I don't deserve Emma after everything I've done, but as long as she allows me to be a part of her life I will fight for her in everyway that I can. I see how she struggles everyday just to try to balance the demands to be the person she is expected to be, the person she used to be and to figure out and accept the person she wants to be. Go ahead and blame me, mate, if it makes you feel better, but that won't put an end to any of her concerns."

David said nothing, but just stood and stared at Killian for several long moments before simply nodding and heading to his truck. Killian watched as the truck disappeared down the road and out of sight. Pulling out his flask he made his way back to his room feeling somewhat envious of Emma's current oblivious blacked out state temporarily freeing her from her worries.


	2. Chapter 2

It was very late into the afternoon by the time Emma finally felt well enough to venture out of the apartment. In truth, she had wanted to do nothing stay in bed until her head stopped pounding and the world stopped spinning, but that proved to be impossible with an infant screaming for attentions every hour or so. So she had popped a few aspirin and headed to Granny's for a cup of coffee. This is where Killian found her.

"Morning Swan," he said as he slid into the booth across from her. "Feeling a bit rough this morning I'd wager?" he asked with a grin.

"Ugh. Not so loud if you'd please," she said with a groan. "I don't even remember getting home last night.

"Well that's not surprising since you passed out immediately after I carried you to the truck," he replied.

With a puzzled look she asked, "Wait. You put me in David's truck? What in the hell did I miss last night?"

"It might be easier for you to tell me what you remember and I can see if I can fill in the pieces," Killian stated carefully.

Rubbing her head she said, "The last thing I remember is Regina running out on the tab and me finishing up her drink. When did you come down? The last I knew, you went to bed hours before."

"I did retire to my room, but sleep escaped me for most of the night. I had actually just come outside for a bit of fresh air as you were leaving. I took it upon myself to contact your father in order to get you home safely," he lied uneasily.

Emma looked uncomfortable and asked, "Um..I didn't…make an idiot of myself or anything did I? I didn't…like…throw up on you or anything horrible like that?"

The laughter escaped from him involuntarily. "I can promise you, love, you were nothing but your everyday charismatic self. Absolutely no vomit involved."

"Good," she responded with a small smile. "Now take my mind off of this headache and tell me about Gold's magic hat."

"Are you sure you want to get into all that now? Maybe you should just take a load off and relax for a bit," he replied hesitantly.

Emma scowled at him. "I tried relaxing. It didn't work. Now talk."

Reluctantly Killian explained what he knew about the mysterious hat and guilty described his role in capturing first the old man and then the fairies.

"That was what he was trying to do to me when I wanted to get rid of my magic!" she exclaimed. "You knew what he had been trying to do! That's why you were so relieved that I didn't go through with it!"

"Aye," he whispered. "I was too late getting to you and ran into the crocodile instead. That was the night he stole my heart."

"So Gold never said what happened to people once they were sucked into the hat?" she questioned.

Shaking his head he responded, "Alas, we didn't get a chance to discuss that."

"Well then," Emma stated as she stood and walked toward the door, "Let's go find out."

Scrambling from the booth and hurrying after her, "Where are you going?"

"To talk to Belle," she said as she opened the door and walked out onto the sidewalk and collided with David.

"Easy now," he said collecting himself. "I thought you'd be home sleeping it off."

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" Emma grumbled. "I'm heading over to Gold's shop to see what Belle knows about that magic hat."

"Well don't bother," David said. "I just came from there and she doesn't know anything. She did give me the keys to the library though. You can come help me look if you want."

Shrugging her shoulders Emma said, "I guess it couldn't hurt. And at least I know it'll be quiet."

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><p>The trio searched for almost four hours and was cleaning up when Belle joined them. Emma immediately met her with a hug.<p>

"How are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm all right. I'm just glad I learned the truth in time to prevent anyone else getting hurt," Belle sad sadly. "Do you think that the fairies are still alive?"

Emma looked down before responding, "I don't know. But I can promise you that I will figure it out."

Stepping out from behind a stack of books, Killian tentatively approached Belle with a grim look on his face.

"I'm sorry, lass. I know that you must despise me for the part I played in the messy business with your husband, but you must know how deeply I regret not coming to you when I first suspected the dagger to be a fake," he admitted guiltily.

"There's no need to apologize," Belle countered quickly. "I wouldn't have believed you anyhow. This was something I needed to discover on my own."

"Wait," Emma interrupted, "You knew the dagger was fake?" She paused as she finally understood. "That's how you got your hand back?! You blackmailed him?! Really?!" she finished angrily.

"Emma, I-" Killian began.

"Save it. We'll talk later," Emma cut him off. "Right now, I'm going home to try to get some sleep!"

Emma stormed out of the library and was followed by both David and Killian. They watched as Emma turned the corner to head up the street to her car when David stopped Killian in his tracks.

"Stay here. Don't move," David commanded. "Let me talk to her."

Surprised Killian did exactly as he asked especially when he realized that he was in perfect earshot of the pending discussion. He wasn't sure what the right thing to do was, but his curiosity gave way as he heard them begin to speak.

"I know you're angry, but maybe it would best if everyone just sat down and discussed all of this," David began.

Emma sighed, "I don't want to talk about it. It's bad enough that I feel less and less like a savior everyday and more and more like a therapist running a Villains Anonymous group just waiting for someone to have a relapse and revert back to their former evil selves."

"To be fair," David began, "I can honestly say that I do not believe that Hook was up to anything nefarious at all. As much as it pains me to admit this, I think his only focus has been and probably will continue to be you."

"That just makes all of this worse!" Emma growled. "He put himself in this mess almost winding up getting himself killed because he thought I would care about his stupid hook? I've always just accepted it as a part of who he is yet he thinks me shallow enough to care about it?!"

"Maybe he was the one who didn't want to accept it," he said quietly.

After a contemplative pause Emma retorted, "That doesn't matter either. From the moment I met him, he has been only person in this town who has fully supported and accepted me regardless of what I did or who I was. The simple fact that remains is that he is unable or unwilling to allow me to do the same. And that hurts."

"I know. But that doesn't mean you should give up on him, either," David prompted.

With a puzzled look Emma asked, "Why do you care? I didn't think you approved of him."

"He makes you happy…when he's not pissing you off," he corrected.

Emma snorted, "Fair enough. And I'm not giving up on him. I really just need to go home before I throw up. As much as I love Granny's cooking, the smell of it is wrecking havoc on my stomach and it threatening to revolt. I'm never drinking again."

With a quick hug, David allowed Emma to continue on to her car while he returned to the corner where he had left Killian. He wasn't at all surprised to find that he was still standing there with a woeful look on his face.

"Sorry, I know I shouldn't have eavesdropped on your conversation, but-" he stuttered.

"I meant for you to hear me," David interrupted. "Consider it a thank you. I do see how far you are willing to go for her and even I have to admire you for that. When Mary Margaret and I were foolish enough to doubt her and her magic your faith in her never waivered. That is why I said the things I did in your hearing."

Killian could only nod his appreciation.

"I would be remiss, however, if I did not make sure you know and are very aware of how everything you do will affect Emma. She has come too far to lose anything else she cares about," he warned.

"No need to worry about that, mate. As I have told your daughter, surviving is what I do best," Killian said with a grin.


	3. Chapter 3

Emma sat bolt upright in her bed and searched frantically around her darkened room. Realizing where she was and that she had awoken from yet another nightmare she threw off her blankets and began pacing around the room in an attempt to slow her racing heart. This had become her routine every night for a week since the day they had searched the library.

She tried to shake the terrifying images from her head, but is unable to do so. She closes her eyes and is confronted with the memories from the dream in which she was forced to choose to save her son, Henry or her brother, Neal from a pack of wild dogs. Her hesitation and inability to choose either boy over the other meant that they both were killed. Before dream Emma had time to even process what had happened, those that she cared most about shunned her one by one.

Her mother's words echoed the loudest in her ears tonight. Snow's admission that baby Neal had supposed to be the replacement for their failure with Emma. As much as she tried to make herself to believe that this was not in any way true, she couldn't deny that this fear was one she had been carrying with her since she had returned to Storybrooke.

Knowing that she would be unable to go back to sleep, Emma decided to get dressed and head to the Sheriffs station. With the reconstruction of the walls finally complete, Emma needed to try to clean everything up and bring some kind of order back to the place. It had been difficult throughout the previous few days to get anything accomplished as the town tried to return back to a sense of normalcy.

Before Emma could make her way out of the apartment her mother, who was wearing a very concerned look upon her face, met her in the kitchen.

"Can't sleep?" Mary Margaret asked softly.

Emma shook her head. "I figured I would head to the station and see if I couldn't get a head start on getting things organized."

"You haven't slept all week," Mary Margaret observed. "I've heard you moving around your room at all hours. What is wrong?"

"Nothing," Emma said too quickly. "I just have a lot on my mind."

"We can talk about it," she suggested hopefully. "It might help you sort things out."

Emma looked at her mother sadly, "I know. Just not right now, ok?"

"Ok. Just know that I'm here whenever you need me," Mary Margaret said as she tried to mask her disappointment.

As Emma left the apartment and drove to the Sheriff's Station she knew that she had upset Mary Margaret and felt guilty for doing so. She just wasn't ready to admit to her mother that she was jealous of her baby brother and worried that she was being replaced. It even sounded ridiculous in her own head.

When Emma arrived at the station she was mildly annoyed to find that Killian was standing at the front door waiting for her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, not even bothering to disguise her irritation.

"I thought you would like some help getting the station back in order," Killian said with a yawn.

Not convinced Emma countered, "And you just happened to show up just before I did at three o'clock in the morning?"

"Fine," he said with a sigh, "You mother called me. She says that you haven't been sleeping and she's worried."

"It's nice to know that she's willing to sacrifice your sleep in her pursuit to discover why I haven't been sleeping," she muttered under her breath.

"No worries, love," he replied as they made their way into the dark station, "I don't sleep much meself. Of course that is probably just because I miss the gentle sway of the ocean. How about you, Swan?" he questioned conversationally.

For a moment, Emma considered telling him to mind his own business, but then realized that she wanted to talk about it. She reluctantly began to tell him about the various nightmares and how everyone turned against her every time she failed. Once she began talking she found herself unable to stop. When she finally reached her most recent nightmare, however, she found herself unable to voice her fears about her baby brother.

Luckily for her, no words needed to spoken. "My love, your parents haven't replaced you. They love you. That much is easy to see."

"I –I know that," Emma stuttered. "It's just what has happened to me so many times. I watched as so many other kids were chosen to go to a family instead of me. It's hard to believe that it won't happen again."

Killian crossed over to where Emma was leaning against the desk, stood in front of her and took her hand in his. "These are not random people looking to hand-pick a picture perfect family that we are talking about here. This is your mother and father who have gone to extraordinary lengths to secure your safety and spent a lifetime searching for you. They would never allow anything to come between you and them again. You have to know that, lass."

Emma leaned in and pressed her lips against his before saying, "I do know. I guess I just needed to hear it. Thank you, Killian."

"Aye. Well that was much easier than I expected," he remarked. "The sun is not even up yet. I can get a couple more hours of sleep."

"Oh no you don't," Emma said with a laugh. "You said you came here to help, so get to helping."

"Remind me to have a chat with your mother later," he muttered as Emma handed him a half full garbage bag.

They worked together for several hours making a huge dent in the mess, before Killian begged to be released to get the two of them some breakfast and more importantly, some coffee. When he had gone Emma sat down at her desk to begin going through some files when her exhausted state defeated her and she fell asleep at her desk.

When Killian returned and found the sleeping sheriff he found that he could not disturb her and instead went to work trying to match up torn pages of the city regulations with the volumes from which they belonged. Even he had to admit that he was not making much progress with it all, but did not want to do much else that would possibly disturb Emma's much needed catnap.

Without any warning he watched as Emma's sleeping form was violently lifted up out of the chair from which she had been sitting and thrown against the wall behind her. His stomach dropped as he heard the sickening thud of her head making contact with the wall and witnessed her lifeless body collapse to the floor.

"EMMA!" he screamed as he ran to where she lay.

Emma groaned and opened her eyes. Suddenly she was scrambling to try to sit up and was frantically looking around her looking absolutely petrified.

"Swan! Emma!" Killian cried. "Hey…it's ok. It's me, love."

Sensing that she was indeed safe from whatever evil that she had been searching for she flung her arms around Killian's neck and tried to calm her rasping breaths. As he took her in his arms he became even more concerned as he realized how bad she was trembling. He knew he needed to make sure that she was not hurt, but he sensed that she needed him to just be there for her at that moment.

When at last he felt that she had begun to calm herself he gently pushed her back and asked, "What the bloody hell happened?"

"I don't know. I fell asleep," she said. "The dream was different this time. There was this voice. This man's voice and he was asking me about the magic hat. He told me that I needed to figure it out before he began hurting people. I tried talking to him but he got angry and threw me across the room."

"Aye. That part I saw," Killian said as he carefully examined the back of Emma's head. "I don't know what's going on, love, but I do know that these are no ordinary dreams that haunt you. Something or someone is trying to hurt you."

Emma grimaced as he examined the huge bump on the back of her head. "Trying to hurt me? I'd say they are doing a pretty good job of it."

Killian waited until he had helped Emma up off of the floor and into the chair from which she had just been flung before trying to get some more information from her about her dream.

"Was there anything else that this voice said that might help identify him? Or about any of your other dreams that seemed off?" he questioned.

Emma shook her head. "I didn't even know that I had fell asleep. The voice seemed like it was coming from very far away, but right next to my head all at the same time."

Sensing her frustration, Killian said, "No worries. Perhaps your father will have some notion of what is happening."

"Maybe. Speaking of which, I am supposed to be at the mayor's office in about twenty minutes. Mary Margaret planned some kind of top-secret meeting for this morning and was adamant that I not miss it. We can talk with them after," Emma said tiredly.

"Are you sure you're up to it, love?" he asked skeptically. "That was quite a blow you took there."

Standing she said, "Oh yea. Mary Margaret was so excited about this meeting that me missing it might truly be motivation for her to disown me."

"Let's get a move on then," he conceded.

With a sweep of his hand he motioned for Emma to lead the way out of the station. He wasn't sure if he was included in the meeting summons, but after what had just happened he was determine to not let Emma out of his sight again until the mystery of these nightmares were solved.


	4. Chapter 4

"A royal ball?! Really?" Emma burst out.

"Of course! It would do everyone some good," Mary Margaret explained enthusiastically. "Back in the Enchanted Forest we used to have a ball every year on Christmas Eve. It just wasn't Christmas without it!"

"That will only give us two weeks to put everything together," Cinderella chimed in.

"Oh we can do it!" she reassured the room. "It won't be anything near the extravagant affairs from back home, but at least it will be something."

"I think it's a great idea. We are stuck in this town, but that doesn't mean we can't get things as back to normal as possible," David said. "Things never stay calm around here for long, so I think we need to take advantage of this peace as best we can."

"I don't mean to be a stick in the mud here, but where are you going to be able to hold a ball big enough to hold everyone in town?" Regina asked.

Mary Margaret smiled, "I think together we can all figure something out. Then you and I can get to work on getting a theme together as soon as possible so we can get the invitations out and start the real planning."

Regina stared at her. "You and I? I don't understand."

"Well obviously you will be hostessing along with David and I," Mary Margaret said. "You are Queen and a part of the royal family after all."

"I don't think you understand how this all works," Regina said carefully. "You and David booted me from the thrown. This is your kingdom, so to speak. Besides, there is no such thing as Co-Queens."

Glancing at David for encouragement Mary Margaret responded, "I know it's not the traditional way of doing things, but it's what we want. We need to show everyone that you are not someone to fear and that we are united. What better way to do it?" she finished excitedly.

"As much as I appreciate the thought," Regina began, "I am not in any mood to be celebrating and dancing."

"I know, but maybe this will help take your mind off of everything for even a short while. Besides," Mary Margaret said noticeably switching tactics, "I need help. I'm afraid I haven't had enough practice planning such an event."

"Fine. I will help plan, but do not expect me to attend and pretend to be all jolly and happy," Regina said finally giving in.

"Good," Mary Margaret said with a grin, "Let's all do a little brainstorming and reconvene back here tonight at six."

Emma stood and waited with Killian as the room emptied out. Once everyone had left, her mother rushed to her side looking very excited.

"So? What do you think?" her mother asked happily.

"It seems a bit much, don't you think?' Emma asked.

"Not at all," her mother reassured her. "We haven't been given the opportunity to show you off as the princess you are and that has got to change. Please let us do this. You deserve it."

"Ok. Ok," Emma said reluctantly. "But I have no idea what I am supposed to do."

"We'll help you. Don't you worry about a thing," David said as he joined his wife.

Killian squeezed her hand that he had been holding and said, "At least you already know how to waltz."

Emma smiled, "Only with help."

"I won't leave your side for a moment," he said softly.

"This is great, Emma! I can't wait," Mary Margaret said. "Now what was it you wanted to talk about?"

"Oh…um…I just wanted to thank you for send Killian after me this morning," she began. "You're right. I haven't been sleeping. I've been having nightmares since the incident with Gold. I didn't want to bother you with it since I knew you were busy with Neal and…well…I was embarrassed."

Her mother hugged her and said warmly, "Honey, you never have to feel embarrassed especially about something like that. I am always available to help you whenever you need for whatever you need me for. Plus, I'm kind of an expert on nightmares after that sleeping curse. Your father even showed me a trick to get rid of nightmares that always worked for me. We can try it if you want."

Emma nodded as she tried to avoid Killian's gaze. "That would be great. Thanks mom."

"Of course," Mary Margaret said. "And thank you Killian. I can't imagine how tired you must be, but I appreciate the help."

"Always will to help a damsel in distress, milady," he replied with a slight bow.

"Hey," Emma said turning to the pirate "Can you give us a second?"

"I'll be outside," he said easily.

Turning back to her mother she said, "Would you mind if I miss the meeting tonight? I don't know that I'd be any help and there is something I want to do for Killian that I may need some help with."

"Of course! What's up?!" He mother said as her face lit up.

"I promised him a second date and literally just had the best idea," Emma said feeling excited about her idea as mother and daughter chattered excitedly.

* * *

><p>Killian waited nervously by the docks wondering what was keeping Emma. She had mysteriously ran off for most of the day telling him that she had some errands to run for her mother, but had asked him to meet her at six o'clock at the docks. It was now fifteen minutes after six and she was nowhere to be found.<p>

Suddenly he heard a loud buzzing noise from out on the water. Squinting to see in the dark, he watched as a small motorboat pulled up to the docks with a smiling Emma at the wheel.

"Surprise!" she said gleefully as she pulled out a large basket that had been behind her seat.

"What's this?" he asked uncertainly.

"This is date number two," she said suddenly unsure of herself. "I know you wanted to plan everything, but I had this idea and…well…are you gonna get in the boat or not? I am really close to feeling like an idiot right now."

Killian carefully climbed into the passenger seat and held on as she speed off towards the horizon. The sound of the engine proved to be too much for conversation so he sat watching the water race by beneath them until suddenly the engine stopped and they came to a stop.

Expectantly he turned to face Emma who was looking carefully at him.

"So…well…I was thinking about what you said this morning about how you don't sleep well without the sway of the ocean which led me to think about how much you miss the Jolly Roger that you only don't have because of me. So I talked to Mary Margaret and she helped me borrow this boat so we could have a quiet little date. I know it's nothing in comparison to your ship, but the only boats out this time of year are commercial fishing ships and that would just reek of stinking fish and I wouldn't have been able to drive that anyway." Emma knew that she was rambling and could feel her face getting hot. Finally she forced herself to stop and simply said, "Will you please say something, Killian?"

"Just when I think that I couldn't admire you more than I already do," he said in a voice just above a whisper, "you find a way to completely astonish me," he finished as he leaned over and tenderly kissed her lips. Pulling away he asked, "So what's in the basket?"

"Dinner. Granny's meatloaf to be exact. I didn't really have enough time for much else," she said. "Come on."

Grabbing his by the hand she led him to the back of the boat. She carefully spread out the meal on a pile of blankets she had arranged and even set out and lit several candles. Both of them sat eating, talking and laughing until all of the food was gone and several hours had gone by. Somewhere throughout the night they had escaped the chill in the air by sitting cuddled together under the blankets.

"Not that I am anxious to be anywhere but right here with you in my arms, but I suppose I should ask at which time I am to expect the royal search party to come looking for you," Killian asked softly.

"Who cares," came the reply, "Let's just stay here and talk. Teach me about the stars or tell me some pirate stories."

Killian chuckled. "If I didn't know better, love, I would say that you are looking for an excuse to not return to your home."

Turning in his arms, Emma looked at him seriously, "Please. I don't think I can handle going to sleep tonight. Not after this morning."

"What if I stayed awake, right here with you, holding you tight," he suggested. "I won't let anything happen to you, I promise. I'll even wake you at the first sign of any distress."

"Do you think that will help?" she asked hopefully.

She felt him shrug his shoulder behind her, "I don't know, love. I had been hoping that we could have gained more knowledge about what was happening to you from your parents, but you chose to share only half of the truth with them."

"I know. But I just couldn't bear to ruin my mother's good mood!" Emma explained sadly. "You heard how excited she was about this ball. She is so excited about having some peace and quiet that it just felt wrong to shatter her hopes."

"Emma, this is so much more than you having a bad dream now and then," Killian said with a sigh. "Something or someone is hurting you in via these dreams. That could only be the result of some very powerful magic. Don't they deserve to know?"

"Of course they do. And I will tell them. Just not today," she reassured with a note of finality. "Now, tell me a pirate story."

"As you wish, my princess," he said mockingly, but with a smile.

Emma settled herself into his arms and allowed his voice and the gentle rocking of the boat lull her to sleep feeling content and safe for the first time she could remember.


	5. Chapter 5

**_Author's note: Sorry for the short chapter...More to come soon! Thanks for all of the follows, favorites & reviews! They all make me happy!_**

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><p>Killian knew immediately, the moment that Emma's nightmare returned. All of her muscles immediately tightened and she began to whimper softly in her sleep. Unfortunately she had been to sleep for less than an hour before the dream had begun. He had truly hoped that she could have gotten a few more hours of undisturbed sleep.<p>

"Emma, love" Killian said softly. "I need you to wake up."

He shook her gently hoping to jar her from her slumber only to have her begin to whimper a bit louder. Beginning to panic, he began to shake her shoulders a bit harder and tried to fight the sense of urgency that had crept up inside of him since he had first sensed that she was in the throes of another nightmare.

"Come on, Emma!" he urged loudly. "You have to wake before you get hurt! Swan!"

As the seconds tick by Killian searches the boat for something that might aide him in his attempts to wake his endangered companion. He could sense her growing distress and knew that he had to be running out of time before something would happen to her.

Looking desperately around the vessel he noticed a small bucket near the rear of the boat. Knowing what he had to do he carefully removed himself from where he had been sitting behind Emma and hurried over to grab the bucket. He hesitated for a second considering how unpleasant of an awakening this would be, but immediately decided that it was the only option he had.

"Bloody hell," he muttered as he filled up the bucket. He raised the bucket from the water and then without hesitation thrust the bucket in the direction of where Emma lay sleeping flinching as the icy water drenched her.

Emma woke with a scream and frantically tried to sit up and disentangle herself from the now soaked blankets. Killian rushed to her side to calm her and cover her with his jacket to warm her.

"What the hell was that for?!" Emma demanded angrily.

"You wouldn't wake. I had to resort to more drastic methods," he explained simply. "Are you all right?"

Emma nodded. "The dream was different this time," she said through her chattering teeth. "I was in this house and it was so dark. I was looking for something or even someone and the voice just kept taunting me. It kept telling me that he told me that people who be forced to pay for my failure with the hat and told me that this is just the beginning. He said that I needed to restore those in the hat or there will be more. And then he said…Well…it doesn't matter. At least you woke me up."

Killian wrapped a dry blanket around her shoulders and asked, "Then he said what?"

"It doesn't matter," Emma said as she stared at her feet. "He's just trying to get to me."

"Swan. What did he say?," Killian asked as menacingly as he could.

With a sigh she relented, "He said that this was all your fault and that you would soon learn his misery."

Killian sat down heavily next to Emma as he realized what was happening. Someone was looking to get revenge for his deeds with that bloody magic hat, and was terrorizing Emma to get that revenge. He did this to her. The words that her father had said to him echoed hauntingly in his head, '_Everything you do will affect Emma'. _

"Killian? Hey! Hook!" Emma said trying to get his attention. "Hey, look it's like I said, he's just trying to get to you."

"Well it worked," Killian said wearily. "Let's get you home shall we."

When they arrived back at the apartment, Killian refused to leave her alone in fear that she may fall back to sleep. Instead they sat together talking in hushed tones until Killian could no longer keep his eyes open. When he lost the battle, Emma kept herself awake by reading through Henry's storybook searching for clues hoping to discover whomever had hijacked her dream world.

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><p>The next morning Emma woke Killian in time to get him out of there before her parents woke so they could avoid the awkward questions that she knew would follow. However, when David met the pair later that morning at the sheriff's station she discovered that they hadn't escaped detection after all.<p>

"Look, mate," Killian said before David could start in with the lecture, "it isn't what you think. I was simply trying to make sure that Emma did not fall asleep."

"Why wouldn't you want her to fall asleep? Isn't that precisely what she should be doing? She hasn't slept in days," David questioned.

Left with no other alternative, Emma and Killian filled her father in on the details of the nightmares and the mysterious person they felt was behind it all. Much to her relief, her father understood why she had minimized the dangers to her mother and was more than willing to help them get to working on finding the person responsible.

"So, where do we start cause I am fresh out of ideas," Emma asked tiredly.

"Well, I think someone needs to talk to Regina and see what she knows, maybe she can help shed light of who's behind this," David began. "Next I think we need to start looking into anyone that had relationships with any of the people that were sucked into the hat."

Emma stared at her father for a short moment as she realized that his ideas should have been obvious for her from the start. Why didn't she think of this? Was she starting to lose her touch? Or was it simply from the lack of sleep? Shaking her head she forced herself to focus on what was being said.

"I'll go with Emma to talk with Regina," Killian had been saying.

"No. You should go with David. You know who all was consumed by that thing, you'd be more help trying to find people they were close to," Emma suggested. "I'll join you when I'm done."

Killian looked dejected, but knew better than to argue with her. He gave her a quick kiss and told her to be safe before heading out of the station with David.

Emma headed over to Granny's to grab a cup of coffee before heading to Regina's house and was surprised to see the dwarves sitting at the counter.

"Aren't you guys normally whistling to work by now," Emma quipped.

Happy and Sneezy exchanged a look before Happy said, "We were waiting to see if Grumpy was going to show. He doesn't normally keep us waiting like this."

"Oh, well maybe he's taking a sick day. I'm sure he'll show up later," Emma reassured. "I don't think he'd be too happy if he found out that you all wasted time waiting on him to show up though."

"He's never happy," Sleepy said with a yawn.

As Emma ordered her coffee she watched as the dwarves paid their tabs and headed out of the diner to start their day. Had she not been running on fumes she may have put more effort into thinking about the dwarves and their missing leader. But the lack of sleep combined with a preoccupied mind caused her to pass the incident from her mind without another thought. Something that she would surely hate herself for later.

Instead she choked down a muffin, grabbed her coffee to go and headed to her car. She almost felt optimistic as she thought about how Regina would surely know if not who was behind this all, but then perhaps how to stop the dreams.


	6. Chapter 6

"So," Emma asked anxiously. "What do you think?"

Emma had just finished explaining everything about her dreams to Regina who had begun pacing the floor when she was finished.

"I'm not sure exactly," Regina said, "but it sounds to me like this could be the work of the Sandman, but I haven't seen or heard anything of him since coming to this town."

"What? The Sandman? Seriously? Is there no one from my childhood stories that aren't real?" she asked incredulously.

"There is that idiotic tale of the fat old guy who dresses in fur-trimmed red clothes and delivers presents to kids on Christmas in a sleigh driven by magical reindeer," Regina retorted.

"Santa Claus?" Emma said. "You think Santa is ridiculous. This is rich coming from the Evil Queen who is the adopted mother to the child's child of Snow White and Prince Charming and whose grandfather is Rumplstiltskin? Yes. Forgive me for being silly."

Regina shot her a look and continued, "The Sandman is very real and very powerful. Only he could be magical enough to hurt you in your dreams. The good thing for us is, that he is only powerful when he is in the dream world. So all we need to do is track him down and steal his supply of sand."

"Great. So how do find him outside of my dream?" Emma asked.

"How should I know? You're the expert at finding people," Regina snapped. "I'll see if I can find a way that you can control the dreams or at least stop him from hurting you while you sleep."

"That would be great," Emma said rubbing her temples. "If I don't get some sleep soon I'm gonna lose my mind."

Emma left Regina's house feeling more discouraged than when she had arrived. How was she supposed to fight a magical dream walker that she knew nothing about and had no idea how to find? She tried calling David and received his voicemail so she decided to go back to the apartment and see what information she could find about the Sandman on the internet.

Since Mary Margaret was at the Mayor's office working out some details concerning the ball, Emma had the apartment to herself. She turned the radio to a station playing some of that obnoxious dance music to help ensure that she would stay awake and began searching.

Unfortunately Emma was once again was unaware when the real world transitioned into the dream world and was soon very fast asleep. She watched as a figure made out of sand, that quite honestly reminder more of a snowman that an actual person developed on her computer screen.

"I feel I must congratulate you, Savior," the Sandman said in his creepy voice, "You've discovered who I am. I'm afraid that will not help you save your friends or yourself. You see, that idiot pirate of yours took someone from me and now I will either get her back, or he will be forced to not only lose you, but watch you suffer on the way to losing you all while knowing that it is all his fault."

"You are wrong. Killian is not going to lose me, because I am going to find out who you are and bring you down," Dream Emma hissed. "Unless you are willing to stop all this and we can work together to figure out Gold's hat."

"If you were smart enough to free those from the hat you would have done so already," he screamed. "I'm done waiting for you. There is nothing left for me to do except to watch as your extended torture slowly tears apart the one-handed buffoon from the inside."

Without warning the laptop that she had sitting on the arm of the chair began to spark and then burst into flames. With the back of her arm she pushed the computer onto the floor. As the computer crashed to the floor she woke up on the couch to realize that the sleeve of her right arm was on fire.

She ran to the sink, doused the flames, removed what was rest of her shirt and carefully assessed the damage. The skin on her upper forearm had already begun to blister but at least it wasn't worse. She looked at the scorched computer on the floor and was grateful that she had woken up before the whole apartment went up in flames.

With a sigh, she opened up the windows of the apartment to air out the smoke, cleaned up the charred remains of the computer and carefully treated her burns. Just as she was getting herself dressed as David finally called her back.

"Hey, I need you to meet me at Granny's," David said when she answered. "Happy just called me to say that Leroy is missing. I told him we'd go by his house to check it out."

"Alright. I'll be there in a sec," Emma said wondering what else would go wrong before they stopped this guy.

* * *

><p>As David sat with Killian at the diner waiting for Emma to arrive Killian felt he needed to get some things said before Emma joined them.<p>

"I'm sorry, mate," Killian began, "for bringing all of this trouble on your daughter. If there were a way I could but take her place-"

"Whoa. Stop," David interjected. "I'm not going to do this with you. I know I may have been hard on you in the past, but I do know what Emma means to you. And as much as it pains me to admit it, Emma will always be a target to anyone wishing to do harm to myself, Snow, Henry or even you. There is no way to avoid that fate for her. It's just the universe we live in. I know that I will not always be able to be where she needs me to be to help protect her, and it does help to know that the times where I may not be available that you could step in and be the one to save the day."

Killian sat quietly for a moment before asking, "How do you keep from wanting to keelhaul anyone that harms your family? I fear I will not have your strength of restraint when we discover the identity of whomever is behind this all."

David chuckled. "It's not for lack of wanting I can assure you."

"Then what is it?" Killian asked in confusion.

"Snow. I know that she would never want for me to blacken my heart by resorting to revenge. As much as the thought of her hurting in anyway pains me, the thought of disappointing her would destroy me. I just have to hold onto that no matter how I may feel on the inside," David explained.

The door to the diner opened just then and Emma approached the pair.

"What going on with Leroy?" she asked sounding out of breath.

"Apparently he never showed up for breakfast this morning and when he didn't answer any of their phone call they went to his house. There was no sight of him, so they called me and I told them we would head over to his place with you and check it out." David explained.

Emma shook her head. "I feel like an idiot. Happy said something this morning about Leroy not showing up for breakfast and I just brushed it off. It never ever crossed my mind that something might have been up."

"Hey, we don't know if anything is up now. For all we know he could just be sleeping off a hangover," David reassured her.

"There's only one way to find out," Killian said as he stood and waved his arm towards the door. "Let's get moving."


	7. Chapter 7

_**Author's note: AHHH! All of you are amazing! I have gotten so much awesome feedback and I want you to know that I have listened and it has helped! I know where I want to go with this story and can't wait for you all to read it. As always feel free to review! I love it all! Thank you, thank you, thank you! - Laura**_

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><p>As Emma, Killian and David thoroughly searched Leroy's house, Emma tried to placate the nagging feeling in the back of her mind that she had been here before. She tried to pass it off as just a passing feeling but she couldn't shake it.<p>

Emma stopped short as she realized that she HAD been in this house before. Maybe not physically, but she definitely remembered this place.

"Emma?" David asked. "Everything ok?"

She shook her head as she fought to keep her meager breakfast down. She knew now that searching the house would be useless. Leroy was not here.

"Swan, what is it?" Killian insisted.

"This is the house from the dream last night," Emma said sadly. "The Sandman has him. Who knows where he could be."

"If that's true, then we will find him. Now that we have an idea who we are looking for, it should all be a lot easier," David reassured her.

Emma did not respond but just walked out of the room looking defeated. Between the extreme pain from her burns, the continuous ache of her head and the overwhelming desire to lay down and go to sleep, she just couldn't find the energy to be so positive. She knew that everything that was happening was because of her and she just didn't know what to do about any of it.

David insisted on continuing the search of the house, even though Emma knew that it was useless. She instead took a tour of the outside of the house to try to find a clue that would lead to the identity of the man who took the dwarf from his home.

"Emma," came the voice of her father from behind her. "Wait. We need to talk."

"Talk about what. How other people are starting to pay because I can't find this guy?" Emma said in frustration. "How is this fair?"

"It isn't. None of this is. Unfortunately that is part of the burden that comes with your position in life," David said quietly. "I've been thinking about all of this since last week and I realize how all of this must weigh on you. For your mother, and me it is just something we have always had to deal with. Defeating villains and dealing with evil magic, that's just another day for us. But for you…I get it," he continued with a sigh. "And I'm sorry. If I could take it all away I would. But I can't. It's who you are. It's who I am. It's who we all are. But we can't give up. We can do this together. I promise."

Emma stared at her father with the tears shining in her eyes and nodded. "I know. I'm just not used to feeling so helpless. And I'm so tired."

"Well maybe we should swing by Regina's and see if she has found anything to help get you some sleep," David said as he gave his daughter a quick sideways hug causing her to gasp in pain from the pressure placed upon her burn.

David look at her in alarm. "Emma? What is wrong with your arm?"

"I may have burnt it a bit," she supplied hesitantly.

"What happened to your arm Emma?" her father asked through clenched teeth.

She gently rolled up her sleeve and removed the bandage she had applied revealing the burns of her arm.

"You fell asleep again," Killian observed with alarm as he joined the pair. "I knew I should have gone with you."

Emma allowed her father to examine the wound as she explained how she had gone back to the apartment to wait for them and how her laptop erupted in a bizarre electrical fire after she had fallen asleep.

"Alright, new plan," David said authoritatively. "Hook, you take Emma to see Dr. Whale about that burn before it gets infected and I will go try to find out more about the hat's victims."

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><p>Once Emma and Killian were done with Dr. Whale they decided that they would go check in with Regina. While she hadn't had any success in discovering a way for her to block access to her dreams, she did manage to come up with a tea-like drink that would help her stay awake.<p>

"It will only be effective for about forty-eight hours and when the effects where off, you will crash and crash hard," Regina explained. "Sleep will be inevitable once this wears off, so you had better be ready."

"Ready for what?" Killian asked skeptically.

"Well, the only way that you are going to be able to defeat the Sandman is to tackle him on two fronts," Regina explained. "I found a spell that will need to be performed by Emma in her dream-state, that will expel him from her dreams and keep him from being able to return. While Emma is doing that, will allow for your best chance to find, secure his stash of sand and physically apprehend the man behind this. While he is intruding on the dream world, he is stationary in a sleep-like trance himself. The amount of magic that it requires to intrude on dreams will be enough to keep his physical self oblivious of what is happening around him. There is a catch however."

"Of course there is," Emma scoffed.

Regina glared at her before continuing, "If you try to physically apprehend him before Emma is finished completing the spell it would cause untold amounts of damage to her. Nothing that I have gives any clear definition about what kind of damage besides saying that the caster would never awaken again."

"Naturally," Killian muttered. "It wouldn't be a true adventure without the threat of death hanging over everyone's head."

"Hey…it's more than we had before," Emma said hopefully. "We didn't even have a plan before. Now we have this and a way for me to keep from falling asleep! I say we go for it! How soon can I get some of that tea?"

"I have everything I need here. I can get it tonight if you'd like," Regina said simply.

"Tonight?" Killian cut in. "Are you sure that will be wise? That will limit our time to find out who this creep is."

Emma shook her head. "No it's perfect. I'm supposed to be having dinner with Henry tonight and I was thinking about making it a movie/game night. It would be the perfect way for me to ensure that I don't fall asleep!"

"That is tonight isn't it?" Regina said dejectedly. "I forgot that you were taking him to dinner."

"Well, we were just gonna go to Granny's. You can come along if you want," Emma offered.

Regina looked at her in surprise. "Really? You would want me there with you both."

"Yea. Why not?" Emma said with a shrug. "I mean, I know you aren't a huge fan of the food, but I'm not too good at doing the home-cooked meal thing and it's pretty crowded at the apartment."

"How would you feel about eating here?" Regina asked. "I can show you how to make the lasagna that Henry likes so much. Hell, if you want you can even do your movie game thing here. At least you wouldn't have to worry about waking the little prince at your place and you could allow your babysitters to get a break," she added as she gestured to Killian.

Emma smiled for the first time that day. "I think that would be a lot of fun! I bet you and I together could actually have a chance at beating Henry in that new game he has. Does magic work on video games?"

"I'm not sure how that all would work," she responded with a laugh.

Killian watched the interaction between the two women in fascination. He knew that Emma had just scored massive points with the queen and that they were crossing into new territory. He knew that Emma had been struggling with the guilt leftover from bringing Marian back and he hoped that this was the first sign of her overcoming that guilt and repairing the already fragile relationship between the two women.

"I suppose this is where I will take my leave. I know nothing about movies and even less about these video games I hear so much of," Killian spoke up. "I will touch base with your father and then try to get some sleep meself. Come find me if you need anything, love."

"I'll call you in the morning," Emma promised.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Author's note: Ok y'all...I know that this is a short chapter, but I had to get this one out so that I could fit everything into the next chapter that I wanted. Again thank you for all of the loves! It means the world to me! HUGS - Laura**_

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><p>It was nearly three in the morning by the time Henry finally fell asleep, leaving Regina and Emma to clean up the house. The tea that Regina had brewed for Emma to help keep her awake was working perfectly and for the first time since she had started having the dreams she felt like she really could be able to figure everything out.<p>

Regina and her spoke for a bit about Operation Mongoose both women agreed to get together to investigate the lakeside mansion after the holiday ball to see if they could get some kind of clue about who the author was. Emma was starting to feel guilty about not doing some searching the night that Henry had shown them what he had found rather than returning to Granny's, until she realized that both she and Regina had needed their girls' night despite how horrible they may have felt the next day. After exchanging heartfelt gratitude for everything, Emma set out to try to get a head start on the search for the Sandman.

Emma really wanted to look into the old man that Gold had attacked first, but she knew that the Sandman was upset about a "she" and so would rule out the mystery man. He would be something to look into when all of this was over and she actually tried to figure out the hat.

Instead, Emma decided to start with the Blue fairy. She began by searching city records for anything that would have her name on it. She knew that she was a nun in her cursed life, so there would not be any marriage records, but she did manage to find several petitions for fundraiser permits and various city volunteer committees, but nothing that she found to be out of the ordinary or unusual. Of course she found nothing in the criminal database either local or statewide.

She did the same with the rest of the fairies finding even less information about any of them and was beginning to grow restless. She knew that her time was limited and she wanted to be out actually looking for things and trying to figure all of this out. She had been trying to wait until an acceptable time to call her father and Killian, but decided that she didn't need them to do a search of Blue's house.

Blue's house was only a short drive from the station and located directly behind the nunnery. It wasn't difficult to gain access to the house, but immediately upon entering, Emma was sure that she wasn't going to find much. Blue was quite the minimalist. What little furniture she did have was simple and plain. She had very little in the way of pictures or decorative pieces.

As she made her way into the kitchen her attentions were immediately drawn to the beautiful potted plant that sat on the windowsill bathed in the light of the moon. Nothing about the plant or the pot seemed to fit with the minimalist theme of the rest of the house. The pot in which the plant set was a silver pot with an intricately ornate design. The flower itself had a lone bloom and was unlike and more beautiful than any flower that Emma had ever seen. The most intriguing part of the plant was the small aged worn card that was still sticking out of the soil. It read:

_"But I, being poor, have only my dreams;_

_I have spread my dreams under your feet;_

_Tread softly because you tread on my dreams."_

_ - W.B. Yeats_

Emma was shocked. This seems like something that was sent to Blue by a lover. Judging by how the plant seemed like it was too large for the plant and the aging on the card it was a pretty good guess that she had owned the plant for some time. The chances that Blue kept a plant from someone that she felt nothing for was very slim so it was a good bet that whomever sent this to her was someone that she considered to be a close friend at the very least.

The search of the rest of the house turned up nothing unusual. Emma made a point to ask around about who could have been the sender of the plant as she made her way to the station.

Just as she was parking her car her phone rang nearly causing her to jump out of her skin. Looking at the time she saw that it was just before six in the morning. Not recognizing the phone number she almost didn't answer until she remembered that it was her night to have the sheriff calls forwarded to her phone.

Reluctantly she answered and was met with a noise complaint from a Storybrook resident she did not know. Apparently there was a loose dog that had been wandering around howling and barking for several hours now. The caller finally became fed up from being kept awake and decided to call it in. After getting the caller's information and the location of the dog Emma headed out to search for the nuisance dog.

Before even arriving at the caller's location, Emma heard the dog's incessant barking. She immediately parked her car and began walking towards the noise on foot. She whistled for the dog and was immediately rewarded by the jingling of tags on a collar headed towards her. Squinting in the darkness she saw Pongo sprinting towards her.

Squatting down to meet the dog she said, "Hey boy! What are you doing out here huh?'

Her only answer was several loud barks. She tried to grab the dog by his collar but the dog pulled away each time she tried. After one such attempt to grab the collar Pongo took off running at full speed away from her causing her to curse and go running after the dog.

Emma sprinted after the dog for almost two blocks until, without warning the dog stopped running and resumed the barking. As she took the dog by the collar Emma looked around the area and realized what must have gotten the dog so riled up. The front door of the house that they were in front of was wide open.

Pulling her pistol Emma slowly approached the door and immediately noticed that the doorframe was splintered and broken as if a crowbar had been used on it.

As she cautiously stepped inside the house she called out, "Sheriff's office! Anyone home?"

She made her way through every room noting the state of disarray in the front foyer and the hallway leading to the bedroom. When she was satisfied that the house was empty she returned to the front of the house where Pongo sat whining. In the dog's mouth, was a dark blue ripped piece of fabric.

Taking the fabric from the dogs mouth she asked, "Are you sure your name isn't Lassie dog?" With a sigh a continued, "Where is Dr. Hopper, Pongo?"

Almost as if in response to her question Pongo laid down on the floor and began whining softly.

Emma sat down next to the dog and pulled her cell phone out. She knew that she needed to call and get David and Killian down here to help look for clues, but dreading having to tell them that the Sandman had taken yet another person.


	9. Chapter 9

It took most of the early morning for David, Killian and Emma to thoroughly search Dr. Hopper's home for clues. Thankfully the search was fairly successful with the torn piece of fabric that Pongo had snagged and a partial footprint in some spilled sand in the hallway. The frustration that Emma had been feeling earlier that morning gave way to a small glimmer of hope now that she had something to go off of.

The fabric Pongo had apparently bitten off of the attacker was a very unique polyester/cotton blend which struck Emma as being from a uniform of some kind. The boot print in the sand gave increased credibility to that line of thinking which gave Emma a very credible place to start her search. There couldn't be many people in town that wore navy blue uniform pants and only one with a gaping hole in their trousers.

As the three of them sat at Granny's sipping coffee awaiting their food David cleared his throat and said, "I think there is something we need to clear up before we proceed any further in this or any other matter involving the sheriff's office."

Emma gave him a peculiar look and asked, "Ok. What's that?"

"Hook," David said simply. "Since it seems likely that he will continue being present for any and all involvements of police affairs, we are left with only one option…making you official."

David held out the deputy's badge that had once belonged to Emma for Killian to take. Before he could do so, Emma grabbed his hand and interrupted.

"Whoa. "Are you sure you want to do this?" she asked hesitantly.

"Excuse me?" Killian asked.

"I just want to make sure you know what this means," Emma muttered quietly. "If you take this badge it means that this is it. You will be a 'no-joke' member of this town. Are you sure that is what you want?"

Emma stared at the table waiting for a response. She became annoyed at herself when she realized that she was nervous for what his answer might be. While she knew how much Killian had sacrificed in order to bring her back to Storybrooke and everything he had done before and since then, she had never really considered him staying in Storybrooke on a permanent basis.

"My love," Killian said as he gently lifted Emma's chin to allow him to look into her eyes, "surely you know by now that there is no where else I'd rather be."

"Great," David said as he rolled his eyes and slid the badge across the table. "Now we need to discuss something else. With people disappearing again, we really need to consider making some kind of public announcement or something."

"No," Emma said immediately. "This is not going to last much longer. Let everyone have their peace."

Killian grimaced and said, "While I agree with the idea of not alarming everyone, I do think that perhaps we should at least let your mother know what's been going on. It isn't fair to keep her in the dark especially when there is such a possibility for harm to come to either of you?"

"I'm not sure that would be best," David interjected, "she has been consumed by the planning of the ball. I don't think that anything good would come of telling her."

"No. Killian's right. I think that we should at least tell her something," Emma said quietly. "She's bound to hear something eventually if more people come up missing and it would be wrong to have her blind-sided."

"She'll be livid with all of us you know," David warned.

Emma sighed. "I would expect nothing less. I'm supposed to meet up with her in a bit for a dress fitting; I can talk to her then. Maybe she'll even forget about this idea of fitting me for a dress."

"I doubt that," David said with a laugh. "You know, usually finding a dress is one of the most anticipated aspects about getting ready for a ball."

"The end result of all of those preparations is one of the most anticipated parts of the evening for the rest of us, lass," Killian interjected.

"It just all seems like a waste of time," Emma muttered.

David smiled and said, "I know, but perhaps you can try to keep those feelings to yourself and just humor her, huh?"

"Fine," she consented. "What are you guys going to do?"

"I think we are going to get the photos from Dr. Hopper's house developed and the see what we can get out of them," David replied thoughtfully. "Do you want to just give us a call when you are done with your mother?"

Emma nodded and stood from the table saying, "Good then. I'll see you boys later."

"Wait, I'll walk you out," Killian said jumping up from the table after her. "I'll meet you by your vessel," he called over his shoulder to David.

The pair walked in silence outside and across the street to where Emma's car was parked. Killian brushed a strand of hair from her face as he searched for the words that would help him put his heart at ease.

"Do you truly believe I would want to exist anywhere but here with you?" he whispered emotionally.

Emma, surprised at the hurt she saw in his eyes said, "I just wanted to make sure you knew what you were getting into. It was pretty damn hard for me to take that badge and I didn't want you to feel pressured to do the same."

"It wasn't a hard choice for me in the slightest," Killian argued. "I want to be where you are for as long as you will allow me to be."

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I guess I'm not used to anyone wanting to stay in my life. I'm…I'm just not good at this."

Killian stepped closer and carefully stroked her face with one finger. "Not good at what, love?"

"At any of this," she snapped in frustration. "I don't know how to be a daughter, a mother, a sister or… whatever we are! All I know is how to be alone."

Drawing her into his arms he stared into her eyes and quietly whispered, "If it were up to me, I'd never allow you to be alone again."

Before she could respond he captured her lips with his and once again Emma felt as though the world around them had disappeared. Her heart beat so fast and loud and that was sure her father could hear it across the street inside Granny's. She entangled her fingers in his hair, pulling him closer. When he finally pulled away she could barely keep the world from spinning around her.

"Stay safe," he said softly. "Call us if you need us."

Emma forced a chuckle. "I think the only dangers that await me in the next few hours are ones involving pins and needles."

With a quick peck on the forehead Killian released Emma from his hold and they parted ways.

* * *

><p>Although Emma would never admit it to anyone, she surprisingly had a good time at her dress fitting. She had been surprised to learn that the seamstress, Robyn that owned the shop had once been a bird back in the enchanted forest, but had to admire her skills. After such a short meeting, Robyn had been able to come up with a dress design that Emma was actually excited about wearing.<p>

Her mother's excitement about the event was quite contagious and Emma was most hesitant to deliver the news that would put dampen her mood. She knew, however, that Killian had been right about her mother needing to know the truth about what was happening.

Mary Margaret remained quiet as Emma explained everything and when finished Emma braced herself for her response. So naturally, her mother did the very opposite of what she had been expecting her to do. Instead of scolding her for keeping secrets, Mary Margaret approached her daughter and pulled her into a comforting and supportive hug.

"I'm so sorry," Mary Margaret whispered.

Confused Emma pulled away and asked, "What are you sorry for?"

"For somehow failing to make you understand how very important you are to me; for not being the mother that I so wanted to be to you; the one that you can talk to when you are upset or in trouble. Instead you think I am someone that needs to be sheltered and babied to be kept happy," her mother responded.

Emma felt her heart sink. She had expected a verbally tough-lashing, but this whole guilt trip approach was unanticipated, although she did have to admit that her mother had quite the knack for laying it on thick.

"Why can't you just yell at me?" Emma asked with an eye roll. "I know it was a stupid idea, but it seemed to make sense to me at the time."

"You're right. It was stupid," Mary Margaret agreed in frustration. "All I want it to be a part of your life and you seem to keep finding new excuses to keep me out."

Emma couldn't help feeling like she just couldn't do anything right and it all just seemed to be getting worse as the day went on.

"Look, it isn't like that. I just thought that it was something that I could handle on my own. By the time it became something more than I could handle it was too late. Or so I made myself believe. I am sorry," Emma mumbled.

Mary Margaret sighed. "So now what? What are you guys planning to do about the Sandman? Do you have any ideas where Leroy or Dr. Hopper are?"

"I don't. About anything," Emma admitted. "I'm hoping David and Killian have come up with something, actually."

"Let me get a search party together," Mary Margaret offered. "I can get the dwarfs to do some looking around quiet enough that they won't alarm anyone else."

"I like that. I'll meet up with dad and see what they have found out. If you want I can see if Belle can watch Neal and you can meet us at the station," Emma suggested.

Her mother shook her head sadly as if she could see right through her desperate attempt to include her and make things right.

"I am supposed to be meeting Regina here in a little bit. We decided to use the mansion for the ball and need to get out there to figure out the logistics of everything," Mary Margaret explained.

Emma nodded and knew that she ought to be getting on with her day, but seemed to be finding it hard to get up and leave. The guilt she was feeling about keeping secrets from her mother was eating away at her, but she knew that there was nothing else she could do or say to make things any better.

Finally she stood and approached her mother giving her a tight hug and turned to leave. Before she could reach the door her mother called out to her.

"Wait!" Mary Margaret cried out as she ran to her daughter's side. "Please don't think I'm angry with you. I love you. I'm sorry. I know why you chose to not tell me, but please don't think you need to hide things from me."

Unable to keep the tears from welling up in her eyes Emma stammered, "I know. I'm sorry. I'm just not used to any of this. I deal with things alone. It's just what I do."

"Not anymore," her mother corrected as they shared another hug this one laced with tears from both women.

By the time that Emma had finally made it to her car and was heading to the sheriff's station, she couldn't keep from wondering who else she was going to disappoint before she put an end to the Sandman and his antics.


End file.
